Skip to content
Please select your location:
Arkaba Homestead

Arkaba Conservancy

Flinders Ranges, Australia

Responsible Choice

We've hand-selected a range of tours and stays across the world that go above and beyond to be a force for good by supporting local businesses, educating staff, challenging local norms, or promoting conservation and biodiversity efforts. Your Responsible Choice helps increase the positive impact of your trip.

Moulded by millions of years of geological activity, the ancient landscape of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges surrounding Arkaba offers some of Australia’s most striking Outback scenery.

This former sheep station turned private nature conservancy spans a region of 60,000 acres and is thriving with a wondrous variety of birds and wildlife. Ikara means ‘meeting place’ in the traditional Adnyamathanha language, and the true privilege at Arkaba Homestead is sharing this landscape with just ten like-minded guests.

Arkaba demonstrates thoughtful and effective custodianship of Country, blended with the rich pastoral heritage in a style that is rustically chic and utterly exclusive. Bushwalks take you on a visible journey through time among creek beds riveted with huge and seemingly immortal river red gum eucalyptus trees while safari drives reveal craggy sandstone bluffs, dramatic sunsets and the beauty of prehistoric mountain ranges. Track native wildlife with one of Arkaba’s conservationists or take a walk with a local Adnyamathanha Elder and discover the profound and intrinsic connection with the land through an Aboriginal lens.

Back at the Homestead, five rooms provide an oasis of comfort and style amidst an exacting and rugged landscape, where guests enjoy a taste of true Australian hospitality on a fully hosted, expertly guided Wild Bush Luxury experience in the Outback.

OUR OPINION:

As one of ten guests to share 60,000 Outback acres in this rugged 600-million-year-old landscape, this unforgettable experience and your contribution to a conservation legacy will live on after your stay.

OUR RATING: Opulent

Speak to someone
who's been there
Audley Travel specialist Barbara

Start planning your tailor-made trip by contacting one of our Australia specialists

Rooms

The homestead retains a sense of history and place, paired with understated rustic-chic style. As the layout of the original homestead has been retained, each room has a character of its own and has been named after early European explorers or property owners.

Four bedrooms are housed in the main homestead while the Coach House is a delightful stone cottage in the corner of the garden for those who may prefer a little more seclusion. In the heat of the summer, the swimming pool and deck is a welcome retreat after a day on safari. In winter, wind down with a roaring fireplace and exchange stories with fellow guests. Rates are inclusive of meals, bottomless beverages and daily guided wilderness activities on the property.

Location

The Ikara-Flinders Ranges offer one of the most accessible Outback destinations in Australia — just a four and a half hour drive north, or a one-hour flight from Adelaide or Kangaroo Island, four-hour drive from the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, a three-hour drive from the Clare Valley wine region and little over an hour from Port Augusta. This is where the Outback begins, giving way to a fractured and furrowed landscape of deep valleys covered with casuarinas and native cypress pines which fall into creek beds lined with ancient river red gums and is home to a huge array of birds and animals.

Food and drink

Arkaba’s real luxury comes with the fact that it is small and therefore intensely personal. Breakfasts are a communal affair, hosted at the homestead's kitchen table and the open-plan kitchen encourages interaction with the chef. The outdoor terrace is the usual setting for a hosted dinner, with meals based on contemporary Australian cuisine with a few native elements to add a unique intrigue and interest. Dining around an old wool classing table on the outdoor terrace with the ever-changing light and sounds of the bush all around is a special and uniquely Australian experience. A firepit in the garden provides a great spot to retire after dinner with a glass of wine or port to watch the stars appear over this ancient landscape.

Arkaba has adopted a ‘buy local’ principle with its food and wine sourced entirely from South Australian producers and the chef working his own local touches to the menu. A purely South Australian wine cellar has been selected to showcase a cross-section of premium wine-growing regions and revered grape varieties. The bar is completely open and the chef will adapt and accommodate very specifically to guest tastes and needs.

Families

Arkaba welcomes children of eight years and above and offer engaging activities for young ones to connect with the natural environment. An application for exception may be made when guests travel with their nanny to care for younger children. In this instance, an exclusive use booking is essential. 

Tour ideas in Flinders Ranges

Our itineraries are there to spark ideas for how you could include a stay at Arkaba Conservancy as part of your trip. Treat them simply as suggestions, because every aspect of the trip we create for you will be yours to define.

Location & places nearby

Places & hotels on the map

    Alternative places to stay nearby

    Where possible, we like to offer a range of accommodation for each stop of your trip, chosen by our specialists as some of their favourite places to stay. To help you make the right choice, we give each property a rating based on its facilities and service, but we also look for hotels with distinct character or a location that can't be bettered.

    Flinders Ranges and nearby places